''Cantegril'' is the name given in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

to a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

, such as those surrounding its cities including the capital

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. It is equivalent to Brazil's ''

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

'' and Peru's ''

pueblos jóvenes ''Pueblos jóvenes'' (, ) is the term used for the shanty towns that surround Lima and other cities of Peru. Many of these towns have developed into districts of Lima such as Comas, Los Olivos and Villa El Salvador. Population Pueblos jóvenes ...

''. Many of the settlements in Uruguay are on land subject to industrial contamination, such as in La Teja and around waterways like the Cańada Alaska in Montevideo. According to 2007 census data, about 6% of the total Uruguayan population (174,393 people) lived in ''cantegriles''. A documentary about the phenomenon was produced in 1958, called ''Cantegriles''. Whilst ''cantegril'' first referred to all squatter settlements, now it only denotes shanty towns; other informal settlements are known as asentamientos irregulares. The term is an ironic reference to Cantegril, one of the most expensive neighbourhoods of the seaside resort

Punta del Este Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...

. The word ''cantegril'' originates from ''cante gril'' in Provenzal Occitan, meaning ''

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

sings''. Its modern use might derive from the 1921 novel of the same name by Raymond Escholier.

References

Neighbourhoods in Uruguay Shanty towns in South America Slums in South America Society of Uruguay Poverty in Uruguay Populated places in Uruguay Human habitats Squatting in Uruguay {{Uruguay-stub

See also

References